In most personal injury cases you are allowed three years from the date of your accident to make a claim for compensation. If you go past this three year period, even if you have a great claim for compensation and would have been entitled to receive thousands of pounds in compensation, unfortunately, you will almost certainly not be able to make a claim, unless the Court’s discretionary power can be used. It really is a strict deadline.
What can you do to make sure you can get the compensation you deserve?
The best thing to do is get in touch with an expert injury lawyer as soon as possible after your accident. They will be able to assess the likely prospects of success for your claim and should provide you with the proper legal advice. To make sure you can get the compensation you deserve you will need to either settle your claim within the three years since your accident or issue what is known as ‘protective’ proceedings in a county court. Your injury lawyer will be able to do this for you and it is just a case of making a court aware that you want to make a claim for compensation. Once these proceedings have been issued, you can obtain compensation after the three year period has expired. The important thing is that the county court must know of your intention to make a claim within the three year period from the date of your accident.
A few exceptions to the rule:
If you were under the age of 18 at the time of your accident, you are normally allowed three years from your 18th birthday to make a claim in England and Wales. In other words, you have until you turn 21 to make a claim. But, at The Injury Lawyers, we would always advise against leaving your claim until the last minute because this means events may not be fresh in people’s minds and evidence can be lost or destroyed in this time.
Furthermore, if you accident occurred whilst you were in the air or at sea, you may only have two years from the accident date to make a claim. There are also other variances that can depend on where your accident occurred, for example.
Another common exception is for cases involving repetitive strain injuries. It is likely that in these cases you will not have an exact accident date; it is an injury that develops over time. In these types of cases you are allowed three years from the date of knowledge of your injury to make a claim. So, if you first noticed your injury today, you may have three years from today to make a claim. But if you first became aware of your injury over three years ago and have done nothing to make a claim, unfortunately you will likely be barred from making a claim.
For some further advice on protecting your claim and making sure you get the maximum compensation you deserve, call our helpful and friendly team for free on 0800 634 75 75 today!